


The Only Education Worth Having

by brontescribbled



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-10-20
Updated: 2016-06-17
Packaged: 2017-11-16 15:50:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,767
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/541193
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brontescribbled/pseuds/brontescribbled
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>-in progress-<br/>A Marauders Era Wolfstar fic inspired by 'The History Boys'. The new DADA tutor has sparked the interest of most of the girls and at least one of the boys but how will Remus feel about Sirius' plan to seduce the tutor?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

It was only the second week of Remus Lupin’s sixth year and his sixth Professor of Defence against the Dark Arts was already gone. The poor woman had contracted Spattergroit and was confined to St Mungo’s for the rest of the year at least. For a week, DADA classes were cancelled, much to Remus’ dismay and many other students’ delight. He’d suggested quietly to James that maybe they could study together to keep up. Sirius overheard and let out a bark of derisive laughter.

“Moony! It’s a holiday! A break!” he jumped up onto one of the red couches of the common room. “It’s a respite granted to us mere, dashingly handsome, mortals by the Goddess of Infectious diseases!”

Peter looked up at Sirius in confusion.

“Which Goddess is that, then?” he asked.

James laughed while Remus explained that there wasn’t one.

Sirius clapped a hand on James’ shoulder.

“We have a stink bomb to set up in the staff bathrooms. Moony, you are most welcome to join us and leave-” he paused to glance at Remus’ book. “And leave Counter-Jinxes of the Speech Variety for another day in the distant future.”

Remus laughed at Sirius’ display but waved them off. James and Sirius tumbled out of the portrait hole with Peter scuttling after them. Remus’ gathered his books and headed in the opposite direction to the library.

It was through this preference for study that Remus Lupin was the first student to catch a glimpse of the new Hogwarts tutor. Professor McGonagall was leading a young man through the shelves where Remus was sitting. What struck Remus about the man was he couldn’t be any more than twenty and his robes were ill fitting like they weren’t his. He was slim with mousey blonde hair and was already holding at least five books and McGonagall was still picking more for him to carry.

“You’ll need to catch them up on the week they’ve missed,” she was saying as they passed Remus’ table, “And then go straight on with curses and charmed objects.”

Remus felt sorry for the man. He looked out of his depth. McGonagall picked up an enormous book that was covered in dust but saw his arms were full so made it float a foot behind them as they continued through the shelves.

“Your NEWT mark for Defence Against the Dark Arts was impressive Mr. Prewett but you’ll need to revise all the content before you can teach it.”

Mr. Prewett responded as they moved further away but Remus didn’t quite catch it. He went back to his notes, glad that classes would be resumed, not least because it would probably mean fewer detentions for Sirius.

*

The next day in potions class, Miranda, a Ravenclaw, was discussing the new teacher with Lily Evans as they attempted to save the potion that Peter had destroyed.

“He’s not a real teacher,” she said. “He’s a tutor. My older brother went to Hogwarts at the same time as him so he’s too young anyway.”

Lily squashed some fire pods and dropped them in the cauldron while Peter kept apologising.

“Is he any good though? I have him next,” she said.

Miranda smirked.

“He’s not bad. He’s not bad at all.”

Sirius and Remus’ potion was looking better than expected and Slughorn gave them an appreciative nod while James sat miserably in the far corner staring enviously at Peter. Remus wasn’t surprised that Mr Prewett had already attracted attention. He was young and good-looking, not that Remus would have expressed as much to anyone. He realised that his appraisal of Prewett alone was a bit unusual and that he was meant to be mooning over the pictures of witches that the other boys had stuck up in the dormitories. The fact was, the beautiful witches blowing kisses or peeking cheekily around the photo frame just didn't interest him. He was fairly good at blending in, which was advisable as he disappeared every month for at least a day, so he wasn’t about to draw any attention to his, well, his tendencies towards nice young men instead of nice young women. Evening thinking about James, Sirius and Peter finding out made him blush a little.

An explosion drew his attention back to the classroom. Peter was slumped next to what was left of Lily Evans’ cauldron apologising while Lily and Miranda attempted to clean their robes. Slughorn grimaced.

“Well, I do like your enthusiasm, Pettigrew. How about we leave it at that?” He flicked his wand and Lily’s cauldron started piecing itself back together. “See you all next week!”

James leapt out of his chair escaping his Slytherin partner then tried to subtly leave the classroom with Remus and Sirius just as Lily was leaving too. Sirius elbowed James in the rib.

“I SEE,” he said.

James smacked him with his copy of _Advanced Potion Making_ as they made their way to the DADA classroom. Remus followed a step behind to avoid any of the mostly harmless jinxes they were sending at each other.

Remus spent a lot of his time being unsure. Maybe this was because he’d spent a large part of his life trying not to get his hopes up. It was two days before term started that he’d been accepted into Hogwarts. He’d never been sure of his place in the world and he could never be sure about what would come next. Lurking in the back of his mind, there was always the possibility that someone would find out about his ‘furry little problem’ and be sent home. Or worse.

However, there were some things he was sure of. He was sure that he liked jazz over rock and roll. He was sure that Hogwarts was the best place he’d ever been. He was sure that Peter wouldn’t do all that well in his NEWTs. He was sure that he would have at least one, if not all three, of his best friends for life. He was sure that James was in love with Lily Evans. He was mostly sure that he was clever, though not sure enough to brag. He just wasn’t entirely sure if he liked men or women. Even in his head it sounded silly. He certainly didn’t feel old enough to be considered a man, and the girls in his year didn’t yet seem like women. In these areas, he would just have to remain unsure.

As Mr. Prewett walked into the room, a couple of the Gryffindor girls giggled and whispered; Lily included. It seemed that they were very clear about how they felt about him. James scowled at the new tutor. Sirius watched on in amusement.

“Erm, hello!” said Mr Prewett.

He clapped his hands together. The class waited for him to say something else but he seemed to have forgotten for a moment that he was meant to continue.

“Right!” he said and wrote his name on the black board. “I am Mr Prewett. I am a tutor and will be taking Defence Against the Dark Arts in a slightly informal capacity until a new Professor can be found.”

He paused, gaining confidence, it seemed, and continued.

“I hope that you’ll treat me as an aid to your studies rather than a teacher as I’m not here to instruct, as such but to guide you in the right direction and keep you on track. As you’re all 6th years, I’m sure you’re more than capable at using your initiative to stay on task.”

Sirius cleared his throat. Prewett smiled.

“A question! Yes, Mr…”

“Black, sir. I was just wondering sir, was sixth year very long ago for you, sir?”

Sirius smirked and Remus sighed. A couple of girls shot looks at Sirius, sure that it couldn’t be leading anywhere good but most of the class waited for Prewett’s answer.

“It’s been a while Mr Black,” he said smoothly. “But I’m sure you know a lot about _that_.”

Laughter broke out around the room at the absurdity of it more than anything. A teacher couldn’t say that! Surely!

Sirius didn’t seem to have anything to say so he just mocked offense. Prewett called for everyone to quiet down and he went on to outline the chapters for the week and the homework he’d expect.

Remus could see that Sirius found this new fellow interesting but he could also tell he was a tad annoyed that he’d been gotten the better of. Sirius being Sirius, however, moved his mind very quickly onto the next task at hand. He made a habit of passing notes in class, the closest to essay writing he ever came, really. Today’s was a drawing of James and Lily Evans in a boat on the lake being pursued by the Giant Squid. Remus was quite impressed really; Sirius had charmed it so the tentacles waggled gently towards the boat. When James saw it, he looked torn between laughing and being annoyed. He scrawled “get stuffed Pads” on the bottom and chucked it back at Sirius. Sirius smiled his charming smile and started a new note. Remus went back to reading the textbook. A few minutes later, he glanced up and Sirius was still writing. For a moment, Remus thought he was doing work. A moment later, it proved to be another note for James, which Remus read over his shoulder. In Sirius’ sharp hand it said:

“It’s a metaphor, see? Moony is always telling about these metaphory things. The boat is yours and Lily’s future time together. You’ll notice it doesn’t have any oars because, let’s be honest, it won’t go anywhere. And squiddy here is the doom that faces you if you ever leave me and Moony and Peter on some beach.”

While Remus and James were reading, Sirius hastily added stick figure versions of himself, Peter and Remus standing on the shores of the lake, then stuck it under James’ nose.

“Mr. Black.”

Sirius’ head snapped up as he realised that Prewett had been watching for a while.

“Are you passing notes?”

Remus recognised the look on Sirius’ face instantly: who me? It had worked on teachers before (not McGonagall) but Remus doubted it would be sufficient this time.

“No, sir.”

Not his best defence. Prewett smiled.

“What is it then, Black?”

For a second Remus almost thought he saw Sirius blush.

“I’m writing a novel, sir.”

There were a couple of titters around the room but Prewett didn’t look phased.

“A novel!” he said. “Excellent! See, I thought you were passing notes to your friends. I’m a young, understanding sort of guy so I wouldn’t embarrass you by getting you to read out something personal like that but seeing as it’s a novel…”

Prewett moved to the side of the room and gestured for Sirius to go up the front.

“You should read it to us Mr. Black. Just read what you’ve got so far, or a brief outline of the plot. Maybe your peers will be able to give you helpful feedback.”

For a moment, Sirius almost looked panicked. Then he stood up and strutted in that Black way to the front of the class and leaned casually against Prewett’s desk.

“Thank you, sir, for this opportunity,” he began. “My story follows the life of a young man. Still in his prime, sure. Sixth year was a while ago for him now but he hadn’t yet begun to sag with decrepitude.”

Prewett watched on amused. Sirius met no objection so he continued.

“This fellow was bright, to be sure. He was also quite handsome in a bookish sort of way.” Sirius flashed a cheesy smile at Prewett as James and others sniggered. “He hadn’t intended on staying long at Hogwarts but found himself under the charms of dashingly handsome student by the name of Black (no relation, of course).”

Prewett’s confidence in letting Sirius continue wavered slightly but he did not say anything.

“Then one evening with candles flickering and the smell of parchment in the air they kiss in wild and furious passion-”

“I think we’ve had quite enough of that now, Mr. Black.” Prewett interrupted as the class laughed. Sirius was shooed back to his seat with a smug grin on his face. Remus shook his head. Remus could see a slight blush rising up Prewett’s neck. James hit Sirius affectionately. Sirius looked at Remus for approval but only got the same old look of dismay. 


	2. Chapter 2

Later that week, Remus was lazing on a common room couch amidst a pile of parchment. James and Peter were playing a raucous game on the floor and Sirius was strutting about the place trying to figure out what to do with himself.

“I’m boooooooored, Moony,” whined Sirius.

Remus looked up from his notes.

“You could work on your paper for Professor Binns,” he suggested.  
  
Sirius laughed. James cheered as he scooped up the remainder of the cards much to Peter’s dismay. Across the room, Lily Evans was chatting to Ava Stebbins as they worked. James kept absentmindedly glancing in her direction just in case she was looking his way. Sirius bounded over to the couch and sat squarely on Remus’ foot.  
  
“Remus Lupin, I need stimulation! Not work!”  
  
He looked at Remus oddly for a second and Remus felt an odd pinch in his gut. Sirius leant forward towards Remus’ face. His pulse quickened for a second but then Sirius just rubbed his nose roughly with his thumb.  
  
“You had some ink,” he explained before going directly back to his complaints.  
  
Remus didn’t like it when things like that happened. It was like when someone said something about werewolves and Remus instantly panicked that they knew. For a moment there, just one tiny moment, he thought Sirius was going to kiss him. Sure, as it was Sirius it would’ve been some grand joke but it would’ve been a kiss all the same. As Sirius shuffled over to Lily and her friend, Remus tried to calm his heart rate. He didn’t fancy any of his friends. He made a point of not fancying anyone. Sirius, though, did have something about him, something that James and Peter didn’t have. Perhaps it’s arrogance thought Remus bitterly and tried to focus on his notes.  
  
“SO YOU FANCY THE TUTOR DO YOU?” Sirius bellowed from behind Lily and Ava. The few people in the common room all stopped to look for a moment. James looked appalled.  
  
“Who fancies who, what?” he asked. Lily gave Sirius a dark look and Ava smacked him with her book.  
  
“Piss off Black, that’s not what I said.”  
  
Sirius smirked.  
  
“That’s not what I heard, dear.”  
  
He swaggered his way back to James and Peter and plonked down on the floor.  
  
“Who said what, Pads?” James asked trying to look nonchalant.  
  
Sirius pulled a face like he didn’t know what James was talking about.  
  
“Hmm? Oh, just now?” he smiled. “Oh those fine ladies were just implying that they find the Prewett fellow to be quite…”  
He paused and stroked his chin.  
  
“What’s the phrase… aesthetically pleasing.”  
  
James glanced at Lily and back at Sirius.  
  
“No she doesn’t. She wouldn’t. Not that git.”  
  
Remus looked up from his notes.  
  
“I thought you liked the new tutor, James.”  
  
James halved the pack of cards for a new game.  
  
“Don’t know what you’re talking about. He’s a git, clearly.”  
  
Sirius laughed.  
  
“He may be a git,” said Sirius. “But the point is, he’s a good-looking git.”  
  
Remus got that funny feeling again in his stomach and looked at Sirius warily. James smirked.  
  
“If you think he’s so handsome, you should go after him yourself, Pads.” James snatched some cards of Peter. “In fact, it’d do all us lads a favour if you did. Can’t have him confusing all the girls with his… bookishness.”  
  
Sirius draped his arm around James.  
  
“As much as I’d love to help you with your little conundrum, I am really all to busy to go around seducing tutors.”  
  
Peter won a round and James looked back a Sirius.  
  
“Yeah I guess it wouldn’t work anyway.”  
  
Sirius got up and leaned against the couch.  
  
“Why wouldn’t it?” he asked. “Oh, I know, the Black charm would be all too much for him, right?”  
  
James and Remus laughed and half a second later Peter joined in.  
  
“You may think you’re the stuff Sirius, but you couldn’t seduce a teacher. We’re kids in their eyes. It just wouldn’t work.”  
  
Sirius looked affronted.  
  
“We haven’t been kids since…” he paused for thought. “Well, since we stopped!”  
  
Remus pulled a face.  
  
“Eloquent as ever, Padfoot.”  
  
“Well, I’m not a kid! We’ll be of age in the next year!” he sat back down next to James. “Besides, he’s a tutor, not a teacher.”  
  
James put his hand through his messy hair and looked at Sirius sceptically.  
  
“Are you saying you’re going to try?”  
  
Sirius’ confident expression faltered for a moment. Remus suspected he hadn’t thought that far ahead. He waited for Sirius to back down and admit the whole thing was just a joke.  
  
“Yeah, I think I will.”  
  
James laughed. Remus did not. He had a terrible sense of foreboding. It could end in detentions. It could end in Prewett getting sacked. It could definitely end in a Howler from some damaged party. Or worse, it could end with Sirius getting it on with a tutor. The thought made Remus feel odd. Was it jealousy? Nope, had to be an extra helping of foreboding.  
  
*  
  
Later that evening all but Sirius were in their pyjamas and headed for bed. Sirius had his head stuck in his shirt and was flailing around. Remus pulled it down for him.  
  
“Cheers, Moony,” Sirius said.  
  
Remus sat back down on his bed as Sirius got into his.  
  
“Were you serious about the tutor, Pads?” Remus asked.  
  
Sirius grinned.  
  
“I’m always Sirius,” he replied. Remus groaned and threw his pillow at him.  
  
“I meant, are you actually going to…” Remus' vocabulary didn’t cover these events.  
  
“Yeah, it’ll be a laugh.”  
  
Remus’ eyes searched Sirius face. There was a trace a humour but he seemed to mean it.  
  
“Didn’t think you fancied blokes, that’s all.” Remus blushed, a little bit frightened that he’d brought the topic up at all.  
  
Sirius propped his head up on his hand and looked straight at Remus.  
  
“I honestly don’t know,” he said. “I figure I’m young enough to not have to figure it out yet.”  
  
Remus couldn’t believe he was being so cavalier about this. He wanted to attempt to explain to Sirius how he felt about it. Unfortunately, despite all the time he’d spent thinking about it, he still didn’t have a neat summary explaining himself. Sirius was looking at him, waiting for him to say something.  
  
“Right,” said Remus as he and rolled over. He knew it wasn’t the right thing to say but he’d gone and made it awkward now. By saying nothing, he could pretend that it had been a light-hearted conversation like the kind that Sirius had with James full of innuendo and laughing.  
  
Sirius looked at Remus’ back. He didn’t mean to make him uncomfortable. Jesus, Moony’s the clever one, surely he’d meant to be modern about these things? Sirius had expected him to deplore him to leave the tutor alone _and if you have to be experimental with your sexuality, be experimental with a fellow student._ That was the kind of thing Moony was likely to say, right? Maybe he was tired. Sirius didn’t even mean to get himself into his current conundrum. If he did nothing, James would call him yellow and be done with it. He could drop it.  
And yet… Sirius was inclined to continue with the plan.


	3. Chapter Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sirius' boredom gets the better of him.

On Sunday morning Sirius rolled out of bed onto the floor and put his face on Remus’ duvet. Remus looked at him blearily.

“Moooooooony. Today I want to cause mischief and do fun things. Tell me some fun things to do.”

Remus squashed his face into his pillow and mumbled something.

“You’re going to have to try that one again, Moony. Only the pillow got that.”

Remus propped his head up.

“Ask James. He’s good at mischief, I’m going to sleep.”

Remus dropped his head back on the pillow and Sirius watched him for a moment. Then he stalked off to find ‘that Potter bloke,’ grumbling as he did so.  
When Remus finally emerged to the common room, Sirius was coming through the portrait hole arms laden with toast and muffins. 

“A picnic breakfast!” he said. 

Much to Remus’ surprise, two house elves were in tow with more toast and a pitcher of orange juice. Sirius set himself up on the floor next to where James was sitting. James was a sight compared to Sirius’ good mood. His hair, if it was possible, was messier than usual and he had inkblots on his face. In front of him was an inch and a half of a potions assignment written in big hand. Peter emerged from behind Remus and the two of them went and sat to partake in Sirius’ mini-feast. 

“Remus, this is a disaster,” said James. “I’ve still got about four inches to go and if I make my hand writing too big, Slughorn will know that I don’t know bollocks about the difference between draughts and solutions.”

Remus went to speak but Sirius cut him off.

“I’ve told you Prongs, it’s a lost cause. You should spend the day with me instead.”

James looked forlorn as Peter munched happily on some toast.

“You could ask Lily Evans,” Remus suggested, aware of his own limitations in Potions. “She’s easily the best.”

James glanced at Sirius who was smirking at him. 

“If I asked Evans, it’d only be because she’s really good at Potions,” he said. “Everyone knows that.”

Sirius laughed and Peter joined in. James scowled, picked up his parchment and wandered off, attempting to fix his hair as he did so. Sirius stopped laughing.

“Hang on, who am I going to do pranks with now?”

James made a rude gesture and shouted behind his as he got to the portrait hole: “How about your favourite tutor?”

“Excellent suggestion!” Sirius grabbed a parting piece of toast and headed to the portrait hole. “See you later!”

James stared after him.

“You don’t think he’s actually gone to see the tutor, do you?” he asked.

Remus, whose heart was beating fast, swallowed and said: “I doubt it.”

The marauders didn’t see Sirius the rest of that day. For James, it meant more time that Sirius was out having the fun he was meant having. Peter had eventually gotten bored of watching James and Remus work and had eventually started his own study. Remus was trying to write but found that by the time he got to the end of a sentence, it did not match the beginning. He wanted to know where Sirius was and what he was doing but didn’t want to make a big thing of it. Sirius had the map on him, as he was always the one needing it most for pranks, so Remus couldn’t check. By the time they all went up to bed, Remus allowed himself to be visibly worried.

“Do you think we should go try and find Pads?” he asked James. “I didn’t see him at dinner, which is… unusual.”

James looked at Sirius’ empty bed while trying to pull an old shirt over his head.

“Check the map,” he replied.

“Sirius has it.”

As if on cue, Sirius wandered in to the room and without paying any attention to the others, yawned, then got in bed fully clothed. Remus and James stared at him. A moment later he kicked his shoes off.

“You all right, Pads?”

Sirius looked at them blearily.

“Tired,” he said and rolled over. 

James shrugged his shoulders and climbed into his own bed.

“I hope it was worth it, whatever he did. Hopefully he’ll tell us tomorrow. I hope he didn’t lose us any house points,” said James.

“Yeah,” replied Remus, his eyes still on Sirius who, he supposed, was now asleep.

In bed himself, Remus stared at the hangings above his bed. He berated himself for worrying too much but also tried to console himself that he would worry as much about James or Peter if he didn’t see them all day. In his heart, he knew that was not true.

*

The next morning, Remus was already up getting dressed when Sirius rolled out of bed.

“Hey, Moony. I want to do something fun today.”

“Is that so?”

Sirius leaned on his bedpost and stroked his chin as if he had grown a beard.

“Yes. We should have a picnic. I’ll get the house elves to bring us food. It will be a delicious spectacular. Or as spectacular as toast can be.”

“That was all very nice yesterday, Pads, but we’ve got class. Better change into your robes.”

Sirius looked at Remus quizzically and half smiled.

“What are you on about Moony?” he began. “Has all that thinking in your big brain made you skip a day? It’s Sunday!”  
He laughed. Remus did not.

“Pads, don’t mess around. We’ve got Slughorn straight after breakfast. You can’t wear jeans.”

Sirius’ smile dropped. He looked down at his clothes from the day before then straight back at Remus.

“I don’t get it. Why aren’t I in my pyjamas?”

Remus knew Sirius’ prank face and at that moment he was not joking. 

“Sirius, yesterday was Sunday. You got two house elves to bring up breakfast and then you went out for the day. We didn’t see you until last night when you came in a got straight in bed.”

Sirius’ face was stony. It wasn’t making sense. 

“Where’s James?”

Remus stuck his head in to the common room where James was collecting his parchment up from the day before.

“James, get yourself up here.”

James, bounded up the stairs into their room.

“What’s going on?”

He smiled at Sirius.

“Enjoyed your snooze in your jeans? I bet that was comfortable.”

Sirius sat back down on his bed and didn’t say anything.

“Prongs, Sirius can’t remember yesterday,” said Remus.

James looked at Sirius, then at Remus. He started to chuckle but seeing their faces, stopped quickly.

“What?”

Sirius broke his silence.

“I don’t get it. Today is meant to be Sunday. You tell me it’s not.”

James stuck his hand in his hair and swore.

“What does that mean? Are you sick? Did you hit your head?”

Sirius shook his head.

“If you feel fine, then it must be a memory charm,” said Remus. “You got up thinking it was Sunday. You didn’t just feel a big muggy and not remember bits. You’ve lost exactly a day.”

“That’s illegal,” said James. “No one our age can perform memory charms and no teacher would cast them. They’d get fined, maybe even Azkaban. Not possible.”  
Sirius had his eyes fixed on Remus.

“When I left, where did I say I was going?”

James let out a low whistle.

“To see the tutor.”


	4. Chapter Four

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for typos. I've spotted a fair few in previous chapters so I'm assuming there will be more in this one.

The three of them sat on Remus’ bed while the gravity of the situation set in. 

“I don’t get it,” said James. “What possibly could have happened for Prewett to think a memory charm was necessary?”

Remus opened his mouth and closed it again.

“We should tell someone,” James continued. “McGonagall or someone.”

Sirius said nothing. Remus looked at his face and tried to guess what he might be feeling.

“I don’t think we should go to a professor just yet,” Remus began. “Because our past history of Sirius’ pranks might mean that we are not believed.”

Sirius looked up at that, hurt.

“I may have done some stupid shit, Moony, but this is not about pranks.” Sirius stood up. “I’ve lost a day! I don’t know what he… -what happened!”

James put his hand on Sirius’ shoulder.

“It’s going to be all right, Pads,” he said. “We’ll think of something.”

Remus stood up.

“I’ll go talk to him,” he said.

James looked at Sirius and back and Remus.

“I’m not sure that’s such a good idea, mate…”

Remus started pulling his shoes on.

“No, it is,” he said. “I’ll go ask him what happened. Then if I end up without a day of my memory then we all go to McGonagall. He’s messed up pretty big. I don’t think he’ll want to do it again.”

James said nothing, which Remus took to mean he had come around. Sirius stood up and looked at Remus for a second and then pulled him into a hug. Remus hesitated for a second and then wrapped his arms around Sirius in return.

“You’re a good friend, Moony. Be careful.”

They broke apart and Remus was unsure if his heart rate had increased because of the hug or because of the stress.

“If I’m not back by the end of breakfast, make up some reason to Slughorn about why I’m not there.”  
*  
Remus marched down the corridors wondering what the hell he had been thinking. Casting memory charms was a serious crime and someone who does that would have to be a dangerous person to pop in on to have a chat. They didn’t even know that it was a memory charm, did they? Sirius could have done something himself like maybe he set up an elaborate trap that he accidentally triggered himself. Remus knew this was grasping at straws. It’s difficult magic to make someone forget.   
Maybe it wasn’t the tutor. Maybe Sirius got into trouble with some of those creepy 7th years. Remus wouldn’t put it past them to cast spells against the law. However, he would be very surprised that they were smart enough to know how. He ran through possibilities over and over in his head but he still reached the same conclusion: Sirius had gone to flirt with the tutor. The tutor had erased Sirius’ memory. Remus felt a rush of anger.

He found himself in the dank corner of the castle where Prewett’s office was located and he knocked heavily on the door, surprising himself.

“Come in.”

Remus walked in to find Prewett tidying his desk. He did not look well. There were dark circles under his eyes and his hair was unkempt. Upon recognising Remus, a light blush crept into his cheeks.

“Lupin, isn’t it?” he said. “What can I do for you?”

Remus hadn’t really thought this fair ahead. He stood for a moment and watched Prewett’s face. He thought he spied some recognition there; Prewett knew why he was there. 

“Did you see Sirius yesterday?” Remus tried to keep his tone nonchalant to hide his nerves but he knew that the question was loaded.  
Prewett sat down at his desk and shuffled more papers around, not really noticing where he was putting them.

“Yes, erm… I know what you must be thinking…” he began. “Or, not. I mean, it was a very unfortunate misunderstanding… and you need to know that I did what was best to put it right - ”

Seeing Remus’ face, he stood up and continued.

“I mean, I mean… not that what I did was right, which I know now, terrible mistake. But I panicked a little and I’m going to make it right.”

Prewett sat back down and put his face in his hands.

“I’m just not sure how… as such.”

Prewett had seemed cocky in classes, at least to Remus anyway. Seeing him like this was quite startling. He looked so small, behind his huge desk and papers. His panicking reminding Remus more of a student than a professor. Remus felt more confident, or at least like they were on sightly equal footing.  
Remus strode across the room, grabbed a chair and sat opposite Prewett.

“What did you do to him?”

Prewett looked up aghast.

“Nothing bad!” he said. “Oh no, I think you might be thinking worse of me than I already do… oh no, I didn’t do anything… well, I mean to say…”

He looked at Remus like he was weighing his options.

“Memory charms are against the law,” he said. “I shouldn’t have done that.”

Prewett rummaged through his draws and pulled out a shallow dish.

“This is embarrassing for me but I feel like I should just show you. You’re his friend; of course you’re worried. I’ve been a twat.”

Prewett drew out a small corked bottle that was half full of a silvery fluid. Remus had seen people collect their memories before for safekeeping but he had never entered one himself. It was an incredibly personal thing to see a memory from someone’s point of view.

“I didn’t just wipe your friend’s memory, I also took it,” Prewett said. “I wanted to see his perspective and… I don’t know. Well, I thought I’d figure out how to deal with the situation and then give him his memory back… once I knew what I was going to do…”

“That sounds ridiculous,” said Remus.

“I know, I know. I panicked…” Prewett poured the liquid into the dish. “Anyway, you can see for yourself. His whole day is in there.”

Remus knew how it worked in theory but he was hesitant to go into the memory. However, despite circumstances, his instinct was to trust Prewett. He looked so lost and stressed and he was completely at Remus' mercy. Remus leaned forward and put his face into the liquid and found himself lurched forward out of his chair and falling into yesterday.


	5. Chapter Five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Remus and Prewett relive Sirius' day.

Remus found himself in very familiar surroundings as he and Prewett watched the events of Sunday morning. It was a very peculiar sensation for Remus to be standing not two feet away from himself. He thought his voice sounded very strange and he was incredibly self-conscious of his mannerisms and appearance. He thought it very odd that this is how his friends saw him every day. He and Prewett followed Sirius out the portrait hole as he made his way to the office off the DADA room.  
Lupin did not acknowledge Prewett as they watched. He could stand back and wait. Remus wanted to see the facts and his eyes were locked on Sirius as he swaggered into the room and took a seat in the very chair Lupin had been sitting in not five minutes ago.

"Ah, Mr Black," said Prewett. "What can I do for you? Homework help, perhaps?"

Sirius smiled and reached into his pocket.

"No, no. You're new so you can't know this but I'm actually bloody marvellous at Defense Against the Dark Arts. No help needed."

Prewett laughed at that and relaxed a little.

"No, I'm here to show you something I thought you might find interesting. Aren't you tutoring history as well, Mr Prewett?" Sirius asked as he placed a ring on the desk.

Prewett leaned forward to look at the ring. Remus recognised it immediately. It was Sirius' Black family crest ring. He never wore it; he hated it, yet here it was. Remus had assumed he'd gotten rid of it but Sirius had had it in his pocket ready to show Prewett. Remus felt jealous of this little display of intimacy.

"The Black family crest," Prewett began as he picked up the ring to examine it. "Of course, I have heard the family's history and know of it's... associations... Do you wear it?"

"Merlin! No!" Sirius scooted his chair around the desk so they were sitting side by side to look at the ring. "I'm a Gryffindor, you know. I'm a proper traitor through and through."

Prewett glanced up at Sirius.

"The house of bravery. Well, that makes sense. You have to be a brave kind of person to stand up to that much tradition. Good for you, Black," he said.

Sirius smiled a little and to Remus' surprise, he could see he was flattered. Sirius, who was all bravado and ego was flattered by the tutor's praise. Remus took this moment to glance at the other Prewett who had made the journey with him and saw he wasn't even watching the exchange. He was leaning against the wall and his face was very pink. When he caught Remus' eye, he sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. He was clearly very uncomfortable.

"Sometimes I'm not sure if it's bravery or stupidity," Sirius was saying. "It's caused me a lot of trouble. And it's probably the only brave thing I've ever done. I'm actually a bit of a coward, when it comes down to it."   
Sirius smirked to try and make light of his comment but Prewett looked at him earnestly and placed the ring back on the desk.

"What do you mean by that?" Prewett asked. "Was there some situation where you thought you should have said something, but didn't? That's completely normal; people have situations like that all the time."

The Prewett with Remus interrupted then. 

"I thought he might have been having some trouble with other students. Maybe he was getting picked on, I don't know."

Remus shushed him and turned back to the conversation at hand.

"Yeah, I guess," Sirius said. "I went out with a girl for a few weeks last term... I didn't fancy her but she asked me and I couldn't bear saying no because I didn't want to be mean. In the end, it was much meaner to be going out with her and to completely ignore her until she dumped me. Real bravery."

Prewett smiled at that.

"But you're aware that you didn't do quite the right thing," he said. "That means, next time you're faced with a situation where you can choose the brave thing or the cowardly thing, you'll remember the last time and choose the brave thing instead."

Sirius smiled a little at that. Prewett held out his ring to return to him.   
In one swift moment that Remus could scarcely believe, Sirius leaned in a pressed his lips to Prewett's. Prewett's eyebrows shot up but he didn't immediately pull back. When he did, he looked confused.

"Um, I don't- I mean, we can't..."

Sirius was still maintaining a little of his usual cocky charm but he did look like a tiny bit of panic was creeping into his eyes.

"Don't stress, Prewett," he grinned. "I was just saying thank you for the chat. I mean- I'm not, that is, I don't really go for blokes. Not just any- anyway."

Prewett then took his wand out and Remus was amazed at his skill. Before Sirius had even broken his grin, he had performed a non-verbal memory charm and Sirius' face became vague and relaxed. The memory turned to black and they were wrenched back into the present. The other Prewett explained that he levitated him to the couch. 

"I panicked," he said. "It didn't look good and I hadn't done anything wrong-"

"Except the part where you performed an illegal memory charm on a student," Remus said quietly.

Prewett looked wretched and Remus almost felt sorry for him.

"I know," he said, deflated. "I've messed up. I don't know why he kissed me. I should have just stopped and thought for a minute..."

Remus watched a muscles working in Prewett's jaw.

"I sent him on his way, just with a light confundus charm, so he'd just go back to the tower and sleep it off. I thought, if I was very very lucky, he'd just get up for classes and not realise."

Remus rolled his eyes.

"He woke up and wanted to know why it was Monday, and not Sunday. Are you completely thick?"

Prewett shrugged his shoulders.

"That's entirely possible," he said. "I'm just filling in because I'm waiting for my application at the ministry to go through. I'm not a professor. I'm just... I don't know."

Remus felt very awkward. Having watched the situation exactly as it happened, he felt that Prewett had been a victim of another of Sirius' completely irresponsible pranks. He awkwardly straightened his robes and thought about what to do next.

"Can I have that, please?" Remus reached his hand out to the vial in which Sirius memory was kept. 

Prewett hesitated, but handed it to him.

"I didn't mean for this to happen," he said. "But he's your friend and I hope you'll give this back to him. I'm trusting you with this. Whatever happens, next- I'll face the consequences."

Remus thought he was going to put up a fight but his humble reaction confirmed in Remus' mind that what he was going to do was the right thing.


End file.
